Quotes About Greed

I long for books; I am utterly greedy about them.

War is usually fought over diminishing resources, particulary those that we perceive to be extremely valuable.

Ideology that believes government is bad, and that public institutions and places are not valuable, is as destructive as corporate greed.

Money is always transitively valued. More money is supposedly always better than less money.

A bad king revels in his importance. A good one hates his office. He spends himself into infirmity quashing deadly little plots to make power the tool of the greedy.

The alluring, long-shot chance of a huge gain is the grease that lubricates the machine of innovation.

Cash is always the deciding factor in such matters of moral politics; nothing ever gets done unless motivated by commerce or greed.

Money is a form of alchemy, [...] it turns kind, normal people into greed-mongers, intent only on acquisitiveness.

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. Teach a man to create an artificial shortage of fish and he will eat steak.

It does not have walls splattered with gold leaf like King Midas has had a nosebleed.

If it could, capitalism would make due with white rats.

He had held out a handkerchief brimming with jewels, but she wouldn't take them.

But they left their treasure, gold and more gold. Some of it is found- but the finders never tell, because you see they'd only get one-third then: that's the law of treasure. They want it all, so never speak of it.

Your husband certainly love money,' she said. 'That is no lie Money have pretty face for everybody, but for that man money pretty like pretty self, he can't see nothing else.

Why was money worth everything when you had none of it, and nothing when you had too much?

Humans don't share; we exploit.

He hates for hate's sake. There are people like that. People who have everything. Money, power, sex. When they have everything they play for more sophisticated stakes than the rest of us. There are no thrills left to that man. The sun will never rise and delight him. he will never be lost in a strange town and forced to ask his way. I can't buy him. I can't tempt him. He wants a life for a life.

Luxury] corrupts both rich and poor, the rich by having it and the poor by wanting it.

not this lords-of-the-earth crap, trying to rule the entire goddamn planet, cutting down all the forests and killing every creature you couldn't bring to heel.

Satan turned Eve's eye to the apple, Achan's eye to the wedge of gold, Ahab's eye to Naboth's vineyard, and then what work did he make with them!

I don't mind paying people more for something if we're getting more. But just to change a deal because you're greedy and you want more? No. I'm not gonna go along with that.

I'll do anything usually if there's money involved and little work.

We cannot make owners by merely giving men something to own. And, I repeat, whether there be sufficient desire for property left upon which we can work, only experience can decide.

Capitalism is a great idea in theory, but in practice it just doesn't work.